Germany 4-0 Australia
Germany celebrate Lukas Podolski's opener
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By James Christie. |  |
Sunday, 13, Jun 2010 09:13
By Matt Hallam.
Three-time champions Germany got their World Cup campaign off to a flying start in Durban with a 4-0 thrashing of Australia, who had Tim Cahill sent off.
Lukas Podolski put Germany ahead early on in the group D clash before the prolific Miroslav Klose headed the second of the night and his 11th World Cup goal overall.
Australia looked to have improved after half-time but any hopes they had of snatching a point were ended when Tim Cahill was sent off with over half an hour remaining.
The Germans pressed home their advantage with ruthless precision as Thomas Muller and Cacau rounded off the scoring to give them a thoroughly deserved victory and send a message to anyone who had dared doubt one of the World Cup's most successful sides.
Phillip Lahm became Germany's youngest ever captain as he led his side out to face the Socceroos who had a starting line-up without a recognised striker with Cahill leading the attack.
Australia had an early sight of goal with Lahm clearing Cahill's header off the line but Germany took the lead inside eight minutes when Muller pulled the ball back for Podolski who powered a shot past Mark Schwarzer from the left of the penalty area.
The goal put the Germans firmly in charge of the game and they doubled their lead soon after when Klose got in front of the advancing Schwarzer to head Lahm's swinging cross into the net.
Australia's defence was in disarray as they desperately struggled to cope with Germany's movement and it took a goal line clearance from Lucas Neill to keep out the impressive Mesut Ozil's audacious clipped finish after he had been played through by Klose.
Pim Verbeek made a change at half-time by replacing the defensive midfielder Vince Grella with the attack minded Brett Holman who immediately found space in front of the German defence and hit a shot from 20 yards that went narrowly wide.
Australia's hopes of mounting a comeback were soon dashed though when Cahill was harshly sent off for a challenge from behind on Bastian Schweinsteiger.
With a man advantage Germany looked to increase their lead with Klose twice denied by Schwarzer before the Fulham goalkeeper beat away another powerful drive from Podolski.
The Socceroos simply could not live with the pace and movement of Germany's attack though and Thomas Muller added a third before substitute Cacau slotted in a fourth just minutes after replacing Klose.
Australia tried in vain to rally but they were unable to fashion a concilation goal with Manuel Neuer easily saving Nikita Rukavytsya's weak volley late on.